More than 80,000 people died in motor vehicle accidents in the United States between 2023 and 2024, making traffic crashes one of the most persistent and preventable causes of death in the country. A new study from John Foy and Associates, drawing on 2023 National Highway Traffic Safety Administration crash data, has identified the vehicle brands most frequently involved in fatal crashes, the types of vehicles that pose the greatest risk, and the driver behaviors that consistently turn collisions into fatalities.
The findings offer one of the most detailed looks yet at the intersection of vehicle popularity, road presence, and crash outcomes, and they carry urgent implications for automakers, regulators, and every driver on American roads.
In 2023 alone, law enforcement agencies reported 6.1 million traffic crashes, resulting in 40,901 fatalities and 2.44 million injuries. A total of 58,319 vehicles were involved in fatal motor vehicle collisions over the course of the year. Within that figure, a small number of brands and vehicle types account for a disproportionately large share of the total.
Light trucks, including pickups, SUVs, and vans, were the vehicle type most frequently involved in fatal crashes, appearing in 25,336 incidents and accounting for 43.4% of all vehicles in fatal collisions. Passenger cars ranked second with 18,778 vehicles, or 32.2% of the total. Combined, these two categories accounted for more than three-quarters of all vehicles involved in fatal crashes, a reflection of their dominance on American roads and the sheer volume of miles they collectively travel each year.
Motorcycles, despite representing a far smaller share of overall vehicle traffic, accounted for 6,432 fatal crash involvements, or 11.0% of the total, a figure that underscores the disproportionate danger faced by riders who lack the structural protection of enclosed vehicles. Large trucks accounted for 5,375 fatal crash involvements, or 9.2% of the total, a significant figure given the severity of outcomes when commercial vehicles are involved in high-speed collisions.
At the brand level, Chevrolet and Ford led all manufacturers by a wide margin, with 7,261 and 7,150 vehicles involved in fatal crashes respectively. Toyota ranked third with 5,161 vehicles, followed by Honda at 4,453 and Nissan at 3,279. Together, these five brands accounted for the substantial majority of all vehicles involved in fatal crashes during the year. Rounding out the top ten were Dodge at 2,419 vehicles, Harley-Davidson at 2,271, Jeep at 1,742, GMC at 1,732, and Hyundai at 1,606.
Critically, the study makes clear that these figures reflect vehicle involvement rather than fault, and that the prominence of these brands in crash data is closely tied to their dominance in the U.S. marketplace. Toyota and Ford were the top two selling brands in the country in 2023, each selling well over 1.5 million vehicles, with Chevrolet, Honda, and Nissan close behind. A vehicle that is on the road more often, in more conditions, and covering more miles will naturally appear more frequently in crash statistics. Brand presence, not brand danger, drives these numbers.
Driver behavior, however, is where the data becomes most urgent. Alcohol impairment was the single most prominent behavioral risk factor, with 17,000 vehicles involved in fatal crashes where the driver had a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08 g/dL or higher. Speeding was the second most common factor, appearing in 10,700 fatal crash involvements. Distracted driving, while accounting for a smaller share at 5,200 vehicles, still represents thousands of preventable deaths attributable to inattention behind the wheel.
Across all three behavioral categories, Chevrolet and Ford ranked first and second, consistent with their overall road presence. Harley-Davidson featured prominently in speeding-related fatal crashes, reflecting the acute vulnerability of motorcycle riders when excessive speed is involved.
The study also identifies a significant and underaddressed safety gap: the inconsistent deployment of advanced driver-assistance technology across vehicle lineups. While brands like Toyota and Honda offer driver-assist suites on many models, these systems are not standard across entire lineups, and some major automakers have actively resisted federal mandates to accelerate their adoption. Standardizing life-saving technology such as automatic emergency braking and lane departure warning across all new vehicles represents one of the most direct available paths to reducing the fatality toll.
“Until enforcement against dangerous driver behavior becomes more effective, and until more cars are fitted with standard life-saving technology features, needless fatalities will continue to occur on American roads,” the study concludes.
